German government criticizes Russia on Ukraine

(Vatican Radio)The German government criticized Russia today for failing to meet commitments agreed earlier this month on de-escalating the violence in Ukraine and said the European Union remained ready to impose further sanctions on Russia if necessary.

Meanwhile,

An air strike on a rebel-held border town in eastern Ukraine has triggered increased tensions between Kyiv and Moscow. It comes while the European Union and United States are considering tougher sanctions against Russia over its perceived support for pro-Russian separatists. 

Listen to this report by Stefan Bos

Pro-Russian rebels are convinced that rockets fired by Ukraine’s air force on the town of Snizhne, 

in Donetsk region, reduced an apartment block to rubble. 

Kiev denies wrongdoing suggesting Moscow played a role in Tuesday's deadly air strike, as part of an alleged 

propaganda war against Ukrainian government forces.  

The blame-game has done little to ease the pain of survivors in this eastern Ukrainian town. "I immediately started 

to run and saw people from my building," a crying elderly woman said. "They are a young couple, who just bought a flat here. A man screamed: ‘My child was there!’ There was so much smoke everywhere!," she recalled. 

Elsewhere Ukrainian government forces say they lost at least eight soldiers in grenade attacks  by pro-Russian fighters in the same region.

Though Russia has denied involvement, the European Union and United States have accused Moscow of 

supporting pro-Russian separatists. 

On Wednesday, EU leaders were to meet in Brussels to discuss new sanctions against Russia, including expending the list of Ukrainians and Russians targeted with European asset freezes and visa bans.       

But American diplomats have expressed frustration that they will fall short of the far-reaching economic 

measures that Washington wants. The U.S seeks to target Russia's lucrative energy and defense sectors, 

as well as its access to financial markets.

However the EU has a far stronger economic relationship with Russia. At least some countries within the 

28-nation bloc fear tougher penalties against Russia could boomerang and hurt their own economies.